There was once a strategically placed Asiatic country with a majoritarily Muslim population, This country had had populist and dictatorial rulers since independence, had a very large population, had several separatist wars, had several ethnic conflicts (including a large scale massacre of a minority), trouble with the UN over a small region annexed by force, Islamic fundamentalists, a major terrorist attack against Westerners, and just regular relations with its neighbors. This country is Indonesia, now a succes case, with high economic growth. No one says now that Indonesia risks becoming a failed state, though she was in a far worse shape than Pakistan. It looks as if both Pakistan and India could learn something from Indonesia.

The case in which the Paki PMs dismissal was made dates back to September 2009, when Pakistan sanctioned 19 RPP with a collective capacity of 2,734 MW at a cost of Rs 21.8 billion. The sanction was given even though renowned banker Shaukat Tarin, who assumed charge as finance minister in October 2008, had strongly opposed the idea of installing RPPs arguing they may cost billions of rupees to the national exchequer.
Illegal contracts
None of these power plants ever functioned at their full capacity, only producing 120 MW of electricity in total.
On March 30, 2011, the Supreme Court declared all RPPs in the country to be illegal. The court observed that there was massive corruption taking place and that it was never the intention of those indulging in it to bridge the demand-and-supply gap.
After thorough investigations, it was revealed that Ashraf, then minister for power, had received huge kickbacks in RPPs. He was also accused of buying property in London with money earned as kickbacks against awarding contracts illegally.

The gap between the Installed Capacity and the delivered Power, illustrates the gap between the promise of Pakistan as the Land of the ( Islamic )Pure and its real achievement.

Indonesia is not that much of a success story as is being made out. Also, it was never ever in danger of "failing" and never ever in a far worse shape than Pakistan. Indonesia flattered to deceive, that's all. The Islam practised by most Indonesians is far more tolerant than the rabid fanaticism of the Pakis.

"It looks as if both Pakistan and India could learn something from Indonesia."

I can't answer for Pakistan but I would like to know what Indians have to learn from Indonesia. There was never a military coup here, military doesn't even call the shots in top defence matters which are run by civilian bureaucrats in Ministry of defence. There are salary, pension issues, recently a few retired militarymen went on a hunger strike for that but nothing very serious. UN trolls are kept confined to their offices, outsiders not allowed to screw up in domestic affairs though media person & tourists allowed to roam around freely except in protected jungles & borders where they may need permits. Over the years, State's territory has only increased by properly integrating places like Goa, Sikkim, Siachen, Arunachal etc.(you can check the details on the web); which are today as good as Indian as the rest of India. Moving away from official stance, None of Kashmir was lost by India after Independence, we are just claiming some more part on grounds of historical boundary of princely state of Jammu & Kashmir (to which the present Indian state has never been able to set foot to). Pakistan was carved out by the british from British India and not by present Indian state, so it can't be seen as a territory loss either. Economy in recent years has been doing just fine, though China is doing somewhat better. Corruption & Poverty are there but there has been increased public awareness on this,in any case Indonesia isn't really an icon on that front .
Enlighten me if I've missed on something Indonesia can teach.

So now that the military coup is underway, we should all expect that the next military target will be Nawaz Sharif and PML-N. This is because everybody understands that the current PPP govt is on the way out, and that it's likely that the opposition PML-N led by Nawaz Sharif would be elected to power. The military fears that PML-N under Nawaz would move to clip the military's wings. The army has had poor relations with Nawaz ever since Army chief Musharraf overthrew him in a military coup and put him into temporary exile.

The military's real fear is of Nawaz Sharif coming into office, and so we should now all watch to see how the military targets the Sharif brothers in their bastion of Punjab. It might be in the form of another Court announcement for the arrest of the Sharifs on one pretext or another, or it might be something else. But one thing's for sure - the army is not going to allow Nawaz Sharif or PML-N to return to power. So we can all be certain that some major action is going to be taken against the Sharif brothers and PML-N. They are the prime targets, whereas the latest action against PPP was just the opening move.

yes yes yes the army cannot do anything right - if it intervenes it is hungry for power and if it stands back while these fools run the country then surely it is planning something evil. I'm tired of the same old conspiracy theories - can't you come up with something new?

Pakistan is a FAILED STATE with a GROWING nuclear arsenal. How long these trends can continue before an Armageddon type event occurs is highly speculative but what is NOT speculative is that LUCK always runs OUT!

Yeah you Americans should take action. Instead of just bombing Pakistan 3-4 times a week you should come in and steal my country's nuclear arsenal. I know most Pakistanis hate Americans and would love to see more terrorist attacks in your country. If the country spirals out of control that may very well happen.

Unfortunately, FAILED is your state and for that matter all are FAILED. Reason, you are writing this in comfort, is result of some 50,000+ deaths of Pakistanis who saved you from becoming FAILED. Perhaps, you are living in the age of infancy and have only learned tagging FAILED without going into reality.
For the knowledge of you and likes, had this much trouble you people have faced in your daily routines, you would have cordoned everything, whereas, despite bombings;coutesy of UNFAILED STATES, routine life is going on as usual. I am no supporter of this Tahir ul qadiri, but can't you see 60,000+ people without any fear, for a cause.

Who is deliberately promoting the Medieval Taliban in Afghanistan and letting them and Al Qaeda have a SECURE AND PROTECTED BASE?? India?? We owe NOTHING to Pakistan and Pakistan's bloody minded ethnic and religious politics have caused the deaths of tens of thousands and the ethnic cleansing of over ten million Hindus.

The Taliban are an unfortunate legacy of the USA's obsession with the containment of Russia (and China). Where Pakistan went wrong was to support the USA in its failed military interventions in the region. The cost of this stupid policy is being paid by the people of Pakistan. On the future of that country, who knows. Pakistan's foreign policy needs to be pro-China and pro-Russia. The future for theocratic states is dismal - the 21st century is a secular century - hopefully. Theocratic countries like Pakistan and Israel are historical anomalies - both of them deserve to disappear of the radar, unless they adapt to secular values.

FALSE!! The CIA or any agency of the United States Had NOTHING to do with the Taliban! This is pure propagandist myth and fact switching. The Taliban were wholly CREATED by Pakistan's ISI with the sole purpose of making a Post Soviet Afghanistan a Puppet State of Pakistan and excluding India from the regional map. The Taliban were a Huge Success for Pakistan. Then they invited in Al Qaeda, much loved by Anti-Western Wahhabi Hard Liners who dominate the ISI. That lead to 9/11 which the ISI loved but Pakistan's leadership couldn't defy an enraged America to protect the Taliban anymore. The ISI still keeps the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Good Condition in Pakistan for a renewed Taliban/ Pakistan regime in Afghanistan. Hopefully the ISI won't push its luck giving nukes to its clients. I don't have much confidence in the sanity of the ISI. The Mumbai attack had ISI written all over it.

"The CIA or any agency of the United States Had NOTHING to do with the Taliban" - your comment. I presume that you live in the USA and are sheltered from the truth by Faux News. Here is what the Guardian (UK) wrote (in July 2010) about the famous leaked Pentagon documents:

"Is it the death of war? In Vietnam the horror of fighting was brought to TV screens in real time. Such was the reaction that American citizens withdrew their consent. In the 1980s computers were said to have restored the aloofness of battle by enabling armies to fight and defeat an enemy by remote control. They could locate the foe, direct fire and drop bombs with pinpoint accuracy.

That thesis is now threadbare. There is no such thing as a secure computer, let alone an accurate one. Every jot of information is leaky, permeable, corruptible, accessible, free-to-air. Computerisation and miniaturisation have stripped command of all secrecy and rendered every success or failure vulnerable to WikiLeak. As a result, like Hal in 2001: A Space Odyssey, computers can change sides and become the enemy.

Far from defeating the enemy, technology is portrayed as shielding soldiers from the immediate result of their actions, hence distorting tactics and corrupting strategy. By recording failure in meticulous detail, the logs mock the moral basis for so-called wars among the peoples. Like Vietnam's TV images, they leave the Iraq and Afghan conflicts as bloodthirsty killing fields, devoid of rational justification.

The war logs are not so much sensational as relentless. Most of the material was known. It is the detail that bears devastating witness. Afghanistan 2001 now enters firmly into the pantheon of folly, from the wooden horse to Napoleon in Moscow to Vietnam. Indeed it bears the added crassness of coming two decades after the Russians committed the exact same folly in the same place.

In 1971 the Pentagon papers revealed the deception of the Johnson and Nixon governments during the Vietnam war. The papers were credited with collapsing US morale as the war drew to a close. The Afghanistan logs convey a different message. They show George Bush, Tony Blair and their generals to be so dazzled by their massive military (and intellectual) firepower that they thought they were invincible against a tinpot Taliban.

Anyone who visited Kabul in the past eight years knew that a western war of occupation would end in tears. The Taliban were a concept, not an army. Al-Qaida was an unwelcome guest, but only the Taliban were likely to expel it. Mujahideen would ooze from the rocks if provoked and never stop fighting until the infidel was expelled. Pakistan, long holder of the key to the Afghan door, had a powerful interest in backing the Taliban, an interest promoted and financed by the CIA in the 1980s. All this was known – and is now confirmed."

I presume that you have not read the Wiki-leaks in detail. Your next point about "Wahhabi Hard Liners" is also incorrect. The USA should stop patronizing Saudi Arabia - that is where the Wahhabi's are promoted. Btw, I am not Pakistani. However, in Asia (in Pakistan) and elsewhere I have seen the blow-back created by shoddy CIA work and neocon interventions that have all failed - from the defeat Vietnam to the current withdrawals from Iraq and Afghanistan.

And the smoking gun that the United States not Pakistan's ISI deliberately created,armed, trained, indoctrinated and maintained the Taliban TO THIS DAY as an instrument of Pakistani hegemonic aims AT ANY COST is: ????????.
You are shooting with blanks and YOU KNOW IT!

The area which is now Pakistan ( originally West Pakistan) had at least a 20% Hindu population in 1946. After Independence and numerous pogroms, it rapidly declined to less than 2% by 1951. That accounts for about 5.5 million. There was ALSO pogroms against Muslims in India. What is the BIG DIFFERENCE is that cleansing against Muslims STOPPED in India shortly after 1948 and the Muslim population in India actually grew greatly to the point that Muslims are 15% of India's population which is a greater percentage than in 1946! In the terror which preceded the 1971 war and the Independence of Bangla Desh, there was an ethnic cleansing campaign by West Pakistan's Army against Hindus in Bengal causing about 5 million to flee to India. After Independence most returned and were accepted by Bangla Desh. These sober facts are well documented and show an intolerant policy making Pakistan one of the least respectful of Freedom of Religion of all Muslim States.

"FALSE!! The CIA or any agency of the United States Had NOTHING to do with the Taliban" - your comment. Kindly do not cover up the fact that your comment was completely misleading and totally lack in truth. Kindly read Steve Coll's book "Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001". There are other books on this subject as well. The "birth of the Taliban" was planned and funded entirely by the CIA. As early as 1981, Reagan sent Donald Rumsfeld to the Middle East to create and arm the Mojahedin in Afghanistan that eventually evolved into the Taliban. This support grew rapidly, and ISI acted as a conduit. Reagan was so pleased by the Taliban's "progress" in bashing the Russians that he invited a delegation of Taliban to spend a day with him in the White House in 1985. At the end of the meeting, he made a public statement in the lawns of the White House stating that "these gentlemen are the moral equivalents of America's founding fathers". Additional documents on the involvement of:

(a) The US president - these can be read at The Reagan Library Research Room; and
(b) The CIA and the State Department - there are well 40 important books (mainly published in the UK and the USA). Additionally, there are around 11,000 memos and faxes in the Wiki documents. Furthermore, there are now about a dozen ex-CIA and ex-State Department people who have written their memoirs.

And yet you state that "the CIA or any agency of the United States Had NOTHING to do with the Taliban". I suggest that you read up on history. Reagan was so proud about creating the Taliban!!! Were you educated in the USA??

If reading is not your strong point, just watch the Hollywood film (with Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts) - "Charlie Wilson's War". "Michael Johns, the former Heritage Foundation foreign policy analyst and White House speechwriter to President George H. W. Bush, praised the film as "the first mass-appeal effort to reflect the most important lesson of America's Cold War victory: that the Reagan-led effort to support freedom fighters resisting Soviet oppression led successfully to the first major military defeat of the Soviet Union... Sending the Red Army packing from Afghanistan proved one of the single most important contributing factors in one of history's most profoundly positive and important developments." A well made film - enjoy!!!

"Charlie Wilson's War" does not support the argument that the CIA created the Taliban. Aid to the mujahideen went through Pakistan, and Pakistan decided which Afghani group received what. This was one of the primary complaints of Ahmad Massoud, the "Lion of the Panjshir". The Taliban formed in response to events which occurred after the Mujahideen had driven the Soviet-backed government from power, and its genesis can be traced to religious schools for Afghan refugees in Pakistan.

It is merely a film. US funds went through Pakistan - correct. Pakistan's natural sphere of influence was the Pashto-speaking mujahideen, who were also very religious, but anti-Russian - thereby creating the roots of the Taliban problem. Therefore, the interests of the USA and Pakistan were similar. In retrospect, both the USA and Pakistan should not have interfered with the internal situation in Afghanistan. The Russians (and people like Ahmad Massoud) would have been much better at nation-building than the Taliban and the puppet Karzai government. The Persian-speaking part of Afghanistan was and is much more secular and enlightened. However, the USA never trusted those guys (i.e., the Northern Alliance) because they were pro-Iran and pro-Russia. The lesson is that Afghanistan is yet another causality of Cold War politics. Had Russia stayed in Afghanistan, there would have been no Taliban, and Pakistan would probably have become a more liberal and non-aligned country. The Russians did a great job in Central Asia. Yes, there is dictatorship there - but, decades of atheist rule has eliminated the brain-dead Wahabbi's and Salafi's - i.e., zero Saudi Arabian influence. Religious fundamentalists are found in unmarked graves!!!

Pakistan may be a failure in it's internal politics, it's a country having survived american insurgencies through indian RAW elements, and internationally known drone attacks having killed over 40000 civilians, but very unlike america, who goes to war everytime it's own financial reserves dwindle, it's in full control, very unlike america, over it's nuclear arsenals. Because unlike america, Pakistan has a highly trained and disciplined military backing it, and a Single God Fearing immensely Robust Nation, which is, when it comes to crisis like these, very responsible.

Your nationalist statement is duly noted. Unfortunately, like the former Austro-Hungarian Empire of a century ago, being a Patriot in Pakistan is being a Patriot for any number of different political,ethnic, tribal or religions factions. Pakistan is clearly on the road to breakup and who will pick the Nuclear Assets is far from certain.

Thank you TE for the informative, unbiased article. It had a healthy amount of skepticism.

But, with a nuclear armed Pakistan, might we prefer a strong military leadership over a weak but democratic leadership?

I believe that leaving a Monarchy (or military rule in this case) for a Democracy ALWAYS results in a Plutocracy (where the wealthy rule). A heard of sheep overthrowing their dog, will end up ravaged by the wolves, which is what happened to the Libyans, who now have western bankers pulling their strings. I admit, rule by western bankers isn’t that bad, but I trust my Monarchy more than the profit seeking banking plutocracy which curently runs the show here in Canada.

Do you like my analogy, where a purebred sheep-dog represents the Crown?

TE should have waited a day or so before putting up an article.
The Supreme court ruling (as I have read it) does not say that PM must be arrested. There are procedural matters that would not allow for immediate arrest. For example PM can apply for bail and get a reprieve without there being too much hoopla. There are other ways of avoiding an immediate crisis.
As I was following the case against PM and others, the court would have logically issued this ruling any way. Only conspiracy theorists have connected the wheels of justice with the religio-populist band wagon of Dr. Qadri.
Army does NOT wish to be involved in politics directly. Though people like me do question the source of funding for Dr. Qadri, it does not seem to stem from Army budget. There are many people who have donated a lot of money to Dr. Qadri for his campaign.
A connection has been wondered at though. The British High Commissioner in Pakistan reportedly met Dr. Qadri twice in Canada during the course of last year. A lot of money that has poured in for Dr. Qadri seems to have been donated by his supporters residing in UK, US, & Canada. His organization has branches in many countries. A typical supporter of Dr. Qadri is a religious person of anti-Salafist persuasion (Brelvi). For this Dr. Qadri could be valuable to countries apart from Pakistan.
The situation has come to a head for sure, however I bet that elections shall take place on time. There is no over-riding reason to create a situation in which PPP government can claim to have been a martyr. We, the people of Pakistan have suffered five years of this intolerable government. We can put up with a month or two more. No big issue.
Let me re-iterate that there is no appetite for a military backed government in Pakistan. Military itself would not want to be dragged into a quagmire while it is looking at internal insurgency and hot borders.

What seems abnormal to outsiders, for Pakistanis it is everyday business. Pakistan's current parliament is ending term in 50 days time and emergence of Qadri as a person who wants to end parliament when it is ending anyway is an anthema to every Pakistani.
The funny thing is that nobody knows what Qadri actually wants. General opinion is that he is not acting on his own. You may find this link useful

As an Indian, it makes a very sad reading of a large neighbor.India has suffered immensely because of instability in Pakistan.Even recently, two of our soldiers were not only killed, but their bodies were mutilated.One is not even sure who is in charge of the country.
Its time ordinary Pakistani people ask for ordinary things like schools, health care, shelter, law and order, women's security etc.Emotional calls for Jihad against infidels(Hindus) are of no use and do not achieve any improvement in the economic conditions of Pakistan.
The way things are evolving, Indian Muslims as also Bangladeshis are living a much more peaceful life then Pakistanis.At the moment, they are poorer than Pakistanis, but if Pakistan continues as it has in the past, they will become more prosperous than Pakistanis owing to the rapid growth that India & Bangladesh are experiencing right now.That will be another body blow to the very reason of creation of Pakistan.Hope peaceful Pakistanis, who must be in silent majority take charge of the country.The sooner it happens, great for Pakistan as also India and the whole world.

LOL the world media portrays Pakistan as a demonic state. The world media not just the Indian media. If you are offended by the Indian's comments what must you think of the typical Pakistan stories on Reuters, CNN or some other such source?

Why do the vote banks of both countries keep voting for people who rob them blind.

If they keep seeing democracy, not as a way to determine the economic and social direction of the country, but as a means of getting a few sops thrown for nothing while the leaders cream off most of the cash, then nothing's going to improve.

It's like India's Olympic association being run by party politicians. A normal country would leave it to sports men. But there they allow politicians to get involved. There's money, I can get some corruptly, so my party will run that, thank you very much. I'll cream off £10m from the CWG that could go to Indians or Indian sport.

This isn't how democracy should function.

But now you have all these tiny vote bank parties that just want as big a share of the corruption as possible, without realising that they're making all their futures worse.

"It's time ordinary Pakistani people ask for ordinary things like schools, health care, shelter, law and order, women's security etc."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
the Army’s one-day spending is equivalent to the running
year’s total allocation for education ministry, and the air-force’s per day expenditures far exceed what was allocated to the health ministry for running the financial year

How much is spent on the ISI, the premier intelligence agency, is anybody’s guess as the budgetary allocation for the agency is not included in the amount specified for the armed forces.

Thank you for your concerns and advices but you could not be unbiased; being an indian. 2 of your soldiers were killed and you are acting like cry babbies and what about 2 our soldiers.
And what is your advice to the rapist roaming in your cities

Please do mention, what your army is eating up and RAW's budget?? Though, your people even do not have proper toilets, and you are ambitiously trying to reach moon. The house of common has objected giving aid to you (for poor people), in the wake of these ambitions.

That remarks was only part of my post.What about other issues? Why the killings of innocent Pakistanis(who are incidentally muslims) are not being stopped? We Indians are out onto streets to force our government to change laws on rape and increase the punishment for perpetrators of these heinous crimes. Time good Pakistanis come on to streets to bring peace to Pakistan.God bless the Pakistani people.

Maybe you are offended, do you realize that our regional neighborly situation is the reason for this excess spending for both countries? We are amongst the biggest arms buyers in the world at the cost of benefits to our own people in India and Pakistan. To whose advantage is this?
And toilets, do you guys have any other statistics to share? I recognize its a sad thing for India, but I also believe that we shall improve as we have been growing.
Regarding trying to reach moon, err...we already did...didn't you know?
The aid from UK was restricted mainly because India selected fighter jet suppliers which were not British.
Frankly sir, I don't think its my business to comment on your country. I can only wish and hope that the people demand what is better. I do not know why this is the first Government after 65 years of freedom to be able to complete a full term. Something is not right, and I wish you luck to make it right.

The so called democratic set up in Pakistan is based on industrial/feudal crooks; corrupt to the core with absolutely zero concern for the country or its people. With out electoral reform, another election has neither meaning nor purpose; the same old crooks will get in again. To reform the system in order to root out crooks is precisely Tahir ul-Qadri's demand. The crooks are thoroughly rattled by the cat being amongst the pigeons. The crooks have nothing to pin on him, so they have invented stories which no one takes seriously.

It is not up to Dr. Qadri to demand reforms. He may go to Canada and ask Canadian government to use its good offices. What business has he to jump in the Pakistani politics in such a rude and crass manner when elections are only a few months away. If he just had to do his stupid march, why now? Why not last year, or the year before, why now?

People like me who actively opposed Musharraf's rule and have put up with a corrupt government for the last five years have a lot to lose by Dr. Qadri's shenanigans at this stage. NO major political party has supported Dr. Qadri's stance. While no political party has come out with a charter of demands like Dr. Qadri, what is his problem that he must take 40,000 followers to Islamabad and claim he has 4 million people there to derail our democratic system.

This is populist BS which we can expect only from Dr. Qadri, who has a rather high opinion of himself. A belief shared only by people who benefit from his rise.

We are looking at elections, perhaps a month or two earlier than as might have been. There is no appetite for experimentation at this time. No major political party supports a derailment of democratic system.

No xyz type of imported recipe is needed. Only constitutional measures would work. At most PPP government would be forced to hold early elections. Nothing more than that.

I wish it works out the way you put it. Having said that, Judiciary-Executive conflict is now pretty much out in the open & will have to be sorted out one way or another (kicking out the Chief Justice or PM or both striking some compromise).

Moreover,There is a real danger of Military takeover- From Balochistan to TTP to Qadri to LoC, all events are calling for a greater power to military and lesser to civilians.

I agree with you that imported recipe(Qadri)is pretty much harmless - since he neither carries popular support( too polished plus no hereditary connection) nor is he part of any of the State or political apparatus. But still he has given Judiciary-military a physical foothold inside the political capital. All battles are afterall won by putting real men on the ground that Qadri seems to be doing on part of Judicial-Military complex.

You rightly point about solidarity of Political parties.I was also under the impression that they won't allow any tinkering at this stage. But, now I see Imran Khan (who does carry popular and to some extent military's support) breaking the ranks and calling for Mr.Zardari's resignation. If some other big party (MQM for instance) joins the cricketer's chorus then we're looking at a dangerous political deadlock weakening the popular resistance to another coup.

I hope that all of what I observe ends up as mere wishful thinking. If democracy in Pakistan does somehow manage to pull it off-hold elections normally at time or a little earlier, I would regard as it as an irreversible victory.

You are right. Democracy takes time - a normal changing of the guards would be highly desirable. The army is creating an opportunity for Gen. Musharraf to return from London and take over again. My guess is that this attempt will fail. I do not understand why guys who have had a decent innings do not sit back and enjoy retired life??

Tahir-ul-Qadri is indeed a ray of hope for Pakistan who intervened in the entangles of politics not only at the best time but also with a fool-proof, well organized strategy to mobilize masses for their rights. The overseas Pakistani community and the elites do have a good reason to go against him because rarely in this country there has been such a loud, far-reaching cry for the protection and establishment of the rights of poor and the unprivileged.

Many politicians, who now see themselves behind bars in near future, accuse him for being an anti-democratic imposer. Let no one get deluded as he is only here to revamp the democratic system through the care-taker government and punish those who are punishable by the law.

At the stage which is set there is no subjectivity in saying that anyone who is with Qadri is with Pakistan and anyone against Qadri is against Pakistan.

A humble request from Indian, will not depend on a single person in the future and built one good system with strong constitution without influence of power(army)...unity among people can only achieve this...

I find Banyan's usual well-balanced opinions lacking in this article. Instead it is the typical rumor-mongering, conspiracy-theories, and anti-Pakistan slanted review. This is typical of American right-wing think tanks.

He is fond of potatoes - according to press reports. Perhaps he should be eating pouteen (spelling??), the famous potato chips from Quebec!!! The local brew in Pakistan is supposedly very good - Murree beer.

In another postm it is inquired:
>Qadri is a "moderate liberal"??
>He is a profesional liar - see his own doublespeak

Amen!
For that matter, is there a Pakistani who accounts in any sense that is "moderate liberal"? Aren't they all professional liars, reeking of their own forked tongues and doublespeaks? Witness Kargil as an example of that double speak, the sheltering of OBL (and KSM and other acronyms now all retired to oblivion) while claiming to fight against terrorism, the nurturing and arming of the Taliban while claiming otherwise and then turning against them when faced with the might of the united world post Sept 11, ...

Not to mention the "Peace from Lahore!" sign-off of that fanatic ummah brethren Zahid Ifthikar!

Author writes:
"Mr Qadri may be a helpful frontman, as a moderate, liberal, returnee from Canada, who talks repeatedly of respect for the law, democracy and the constitution—even as he seeks to undermine them."

Qadri is a "moderate liberal"?? He is a profesional liar - see his own doublespeak:

Watch the military's cadre of supporters show up to pretentiously proclaim that Qadri has been misquoted and his words manipulated in misleading ways. You can see from the video what Qadri's own words are, and you need to remember that this guy has helped the military dictatorship of Zia-ul-Haq in the past. The man is a professional liar - just the sort of stooge who is useful to the military, which has overthrown democracy in that country through repeated coups in the past.

However, this time, the military is not acting alone - it seems that the supreme court is playing a front-line role. The judges could easily have delayed the judgement by a few days. The fact that they announced it today appears to be deliberate - i.e., to create a public perception that Mr. Qadri has won a major victory. Consequently, he will become emboldened to expand his wish list by tomorrow morning. I was sitting with a major asset manager in London. It was very interesting - the fund's computer systems were reacting to political developments by automatically selling Pakistani stocks. Before manual intervention could take place, millions of dollars of equities had already been sold. The army never looks at the consequences of their actions.

Had judges delayed their ruling (not judgement sir, that shall come later), there would have been some form of criticism regardless.

This ruling was expected. I have been following this case of "Rental Power Projects" since its inception. Two things are important in this regard. 1. President Zardari's choice of a tainted politician, who stood a high chance of being convicted, was a convenient for claiming victimhood down the road. 2. Perhaps Dr. Qadri's timing has been very well-calculated, so that he may have maximum benefit from an expected ruling.

It is important to note the actual wording of the ruling. It certainly does not imply that PM be arrested and locked up. There are many legal & procedural ways left for PM yet.

What this ruling does do in fact is that it exposes another case of corruption by PPP government at a critical juncture.

It seems that Mr Qadri is privy to the Supreme Court's decisions much ahead of the general public. Note that at today's rally, he told listeners that "half the job is done, and the other half will soon follow" - not only was he not surprised when this Court order was suddenly announced, but he spoke as if he was a party to it.

The Pak Army's main target is Nawaz Sharif and PML-N, whom the military feels will clip its wings if elected into power, as is likely. So watch for some new move against the Sharif brothers. They are the prime targets that the Pak military needs to neutralize, in order to preserve military shadow-rule.

If there ever is a savior; a clean, honest politician; an innovative inventor, and true peacemaker, a Pakistani Gandhi;
=> Then they are assassinated.
National politicians are corrupt.
ISI runs terror operations.
And half of the country is ungovernable tribal regions.
Nobody pays tax.
It is Islamic Sharia Anarchy, and ironically Pakistani Government thinks this model should be instituted in neighboring Afghanistan.
Madrassas brain wash their teen males into suicide bombers.
And bombing reports are as expected as the weather report-- a distasteful but inevitable part of life in a war zone.
And the population is paranoid, because of all the horror the have seen for generations.
__________________________________
And Jihad should be waged on the 85% of the world that are infidels.
And its nuclear weapons program is being exported as another dimension of exporting Jihad.
Customers include North Korea, Syria and Libya. Maybe Iran.
__________________________________
Pakistan is the Machiavelli of modern diplomacy.
Everyone who deals with her gets burned.
Gandhi would be drawn and quartered.
It is the Reign of the Bullet.

How long have you spent in Pakistan grasping the full extent of the country's failings?
Your knowledge is astounding, and your grasp of history most impressive, you even trot out all the cliches about "lawless" tribal area etc, etc
India and her supporters are rather like some of the wilder supporters of Zionism in their coordinated ravings on the net, the electronic equivalent of shouting people down, why confuse us with some hard facts.
We can always look to the USA for inspiration, the country with the best democracy money can buy.
Pakistan has huge structural problems, one of which is the relationship between the army and the USA, and has been interfered with by all its neighbours for decades, this of course is reciprocated, while its body politic is even more rotten than Indias, which is saying something.
Most Western comment is ignorant, biased and sectarian, and dooms the outside world to misunderstand and hence perpetuate many of the problems.
The lack of a decent education system is one of the crucial failings of the State, the vacuum has been filled by outside money from extreme religious groups adding to the stresses and strains of an enormous population within a ramshackle economy where very few pay any taxes at all.
Oddly enough, rather like the USA, cutting the military budget would allow some intelligent development to take place, but the chances of this are slim to zero in both countries.
Pigs might fly etc....

I doubt there is a single man between the ages of 18 and up in Pakistan that is not corrupt. The supreme court could correctly indict politicians forever for corruption and every indictment would be correct.

The real problem here is that successive PM's are protecting Mr 10%, the President. Throw him out, reopen the corruption case, get rid of this man and make an example of him and move on.